Languages of the Seafaring Confederation
The Seafaring Confederation, due to its confederate structure, contains many languages within its borders. Lingua franca The lingua franca and general working language of confederational institutions like the Parliament of the Seafaring Confederation is English. Knowledge of English is required for all residents of the Confederation who wish to travel amongst its nations, and is to be taught at schools from the age of 9 onwards. Over the years the usage of English for intra-confederational communication has created a version of English known as Seafaring English, which draws influences from mostly Gaelic and Scottish accents. "Official" versus "unofficial" In confederate legal terms, an "official language" as under paragraph 3.2 of the Seafaring Confederation Language Recognition Act is a national language of any of the member states that is used for official conduct and translations of confederal matters. An "unofficial language" as under paragraph 4.2 of the same act is a language that enjoys official status within at least one of the member nations but is not represented in confederal institutions. Saxony Within Saxony there are four official languages: German Low Saxon, Dutch Low Saxon, German and Dutch. There are also the unofficial Frisian languages, although these do enjoy full recognition in several counties and municipalities. Furthermore, historically there has existed great diversity amongst both German and Dutch Low Saxonian in dialects, which are all recognized on municipal level next to the standardized version of the language. German Low Saxon German Low Saxon is the version of the Saxon language used in Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony-State. It is an umbrella language of the Low Saxonian dialects spoken within the area, ranging from the Lower German in the north to Upper German in the south, and is generally spelled according to rules following German orthography. The dialects are all West Germanic. Dutch Low Saxon Dutch Low Saxon is the version of the Saxon language used in Dutch Lower Saxony and is an umbrella language of all the dialects found there. It is mutually intelligible with most of the dialects in Lower Saxony, however, historically it has had much closer ties with the Netherlands and therefore bases most of its language and orthography on the Dutch language. Like its sister, German Low Saxon, it is a West Germanic language. German German is spoken mainly in the larger cities of Saxony-State and enjoys official status nationwide. It is a West-Germanic language which is also spoken in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg, as well as in several localities in Italy. Though generally mutually intelligible with all of these versions of the German language, due to political differences between Saxony and these nations the German language within Saxony has managed to divert into its own version of the German language called Saxonian German, with its own set of spelling rules, words, false friends and colloquialisms. Dutch Dutch is spoken mainly in the outermost western part of Dutch Lower Saxony as well as along its border with the Netherlands and in several Frisian cities. It is a West-Germanic Lower Franconian language that is spoken in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium as well. Due to the rather small amount of speakers of Dutch in Saxony, it does not have official standing as its own version of Dutch, although several special words and colloquialisms have emerged from Dutch-speaking Saxony. Sorbian In Saxony-State, a Slavic minority language known as Upper Sorbian is spoken by approximately 40,000 people. It has the status of unofficial language in the municipalities in which it is spoken. Frisian There are three Frisian languages spoken in Saxony: West Frisian, East Frisian and Saterland Frisian. They are all Anglo-Frisian languages. West Frisian West Frisian is spoken in the Dutch Lower Saxonian county of Frisia, especially in the rural areas but also in the cities. It enjoys official status within this county and is used in all tiers of government and the judiciary as well as in everyday usage together with Dutch and Dutch Low Saxon. Saterland Frisian Saterland Frisian is spoken in the municipality of Saterland in the county of Outer Cloppenburg. It is used in local government procedures and enjoys above average everyday usage amongst the population of Saterland. East Frisian East Frisian is the language spoken by the Frisians living outside of Saterland in the Frisian territory of German Lower Saxony. It is used in local government procedures and enjoys everyday usage by approximately 80% of the inhabitants of the territory. Schleswig-Holstein-Jutland Schleswig-Holstein-Jutland has only one official language: German Low Saxon. Unofficial usage of Jutlandic, North Frisian and German is prevalent within some municipalities in the nation. German Low Saxon German Low Saxon is the language spoken by the majority of the nation's population and also has the largest linguistic area. There are approximately five main different dialects. Jutlandic Jutlandic is the language spoken in the northernmost inland and East Sea Coast areas of the nation. It is a North Germanic language and a remote dialect of Danish; however, unlike Standard Danish it renders articles as separate words rather than suffixes and tones rather than støds. It also sees the use of bilabial and velar frictatives, palatal nasal and (lateral) approximates and bilabial velar coarticulations, which are not found in any other Germanic language within the Confederation. Jutlandic enjoys legal standing in most of the northernmost municipalities of Schleswig-Holstein-Jutland. North Frisian North Frisian is one of the Frisian languages in the Anglo-Frisian language group. It is spoken on several of the Frisian islands as well as on the mainland surrounding them and enjoys legal standing within those municipalities. There are several different dialects that are to more or lesser extent mutually intelligible. German German is spoken in the southwesternmost counties of the nation. It is not considered a version of German on its own. It enjoys legal standing within those counties, even in municipalities where there is no German-speaking majority. Dogger The official language of Dogger is Dogrish. Dogrish has three recognized forms of which the usage differs per municipality, and are sometimes used interchangeably. All forms of Dogrish are North Germanic languages. Hufuðstaðursspróg Hufuðstaðursspróg, literally "language of the capital city", is the dialect of Dogrish spoken in and around the capital city of Eyjittsmiddi. It is often considered archaic by users of the other two forms of Dogrish due to the prevalence of the four grammatical cases as well as the usage of different grammatical genders in every declension of any grammatical component of a sentence. Dynninnarspróg Dynninnarspróg, literally "language of the dunes", is the dialect of Dogrish spoken in the Dunes of Idunna and the Heather of Odin. It is characterized by being the only dialect of Dogrish that still maintains its ancient tonal system to an extent that it has increased rather than decreased, resulting in a dialect where the difference in tone can bring a completely different meaning to a sentence. It uses only one grammatical gender. It is the official version of Dogrish used by the Frisians living in the Dunes. Norðurspróg Norðurspróg, literally "language of the north", is the dialect of Dogrish spoken in the north and west of the island. Like Dynninnarspróg it only has one grammatical gender, but unlike it, it has completely omitted any tonal systems. It is the only dialect to have a dualis number. Heligolandic On the island of Heligoland, the Halunder Tribe of Heligoland uses Heligolandic as their official language. Howry The official language of Howry is Howrish. Also spoken on the island of Drogey is Drollic, however, this language does not enjoy any unofficial recognition whatsoever. Howrish Howrish is a North Germanic language resembling the now extinct language of Norn. It is spoken on the island of Howry and is considered a North Germanic language. It retains a simplified version of the ancient Norse tonal system and is the official language for the entire nation. Drollic Drollic is the de facto language of Drogey. Although officially no language other than Howrish may be used for official purposes in the nation, it is still very much used on the island. It is a North Germanic language that is mutually intelligible with Faroese. The Highlands The official languages of the Highlands are Scots Gaelic and Welsh. Unofficial languages are Lowland Scots and English, which are prevalent in several areas in the southern part of the nation. Scots Gaelic Scots Gaelic is the major language of the Highlands and has standing in all parts of the nation with the exception of Anglesey. It belongs to the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages that shares many of its characteristics with Irish Gaelic. Welsh Welsh is the major language of Anglesey and is the only official language in the county. It belongs to the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is held in high regard by the people of the Highlands and the ability to speak it fluently normally attracts considerable status to non-native speakers. Lowland Scots Lowland Scots is spoken in the area around Aberdeen in several municipalities, as well as in several strips of land along the southern border. It is officially used in these municipalities. English Scottish English is spoken interchangeably with Lowland Scots. Faroe Islands The official language of the Faroe Islands is Faroese. There are no unofficial languages. Faroese Faroese is a North Germanic language that used to be mutually intelligible with Norn prior to its extinction. Though not phonologically mutually intelligible with Icelandic, due to the etymological nature of the orthography it can still be read by Icelandic speakers quite reasonably. Rockall The official language of Rockall is Rockallian, also known as Rockall Gaelic. Additional unofficial languages are Fernolian and Astrallic, which share equal status to Rockallian and dominant status to one another in several of the baronetcies. Rockallian Rockiallian, also known as Rockall Gaelic, and known in Rockallian itself is Géailg, is the language spoken on the south and southwestern coasts of Rockall. It is also spoken by majorities of the populations of a majority of the municipalities in the Rockallic Federal District. It is a Goidelic Celtic language and shares a heritage with Irish Gaelic, despite having several main differences that sets it apart from this. It is spoken by a majority of the nation's population, being speaken by a majority of three of the five largest cities on the island, as well as being spoken by significant minorities in the other two. Fernolian Fernolian, in Fernolian itself known as Fearnillic, is the language spoken is the major language of the viscountcies of Líchthiach Thiair and Cóste Ígheainne. It is also spoken by smaller majorities in most of the municipalities in the Lóda na Núille in the viscountcy of An Thir na tÁirdteachd, as well as in two coastal and one mountainous municipality in An Móir Leautheinn. It is also spoken by smaller majorities in a couple of the northern and western municipalities of the Federal District. It is a Goidelic Celtic language, though closer to Romic than to the other island languages. It is the only language to be spoken in all viscountcies, and has the second highest number of speakers. Astrallic Astrallic, in Astrallic itself known as Áistreailgich, is the major language of the viscountcy of An Móir Leautheinn. Major Astrallic-speaking communities can be found in the baronies of Gléaoin na Bhléithiái, Aoin na Ghúireacheanne and Gléaoinnenoileun. It is also spoken by smaller majorities in several of the westernmost mountainous municipalities of Cóste Ígheainne and An Thir na tÁirdteachd. It is a Goidelic Celtic language. Astrallic has a highly etymological orthography to the point where entire written syllables can be omitted from speech. An example of this would be the name of the language itself, Áistreailgich, which would be pronounced as əstˈɹæ̃:ʎik:. It has the smallest number of speakers of any language on Rockall. Rom Rom only has one official language: Romic. Romic Romic is the only language spoken on the islands of Rom. It is a Brittonic Celtic language with influences from North Germanic languages like Faroese and Icelandic. Category:Languages of the Seafaring Confederation Category:Seafaring Confederation